How to permanently delete books from cloud

Are these purchased books, Seamee, or downloaded books, such as PDFs?

Are you finding that a large portion of your used iCloud storage is “Books”, and you want to eliminate this use of your iCloud storage?

More information about what is concerning you and/or what you want to accomplish, can greatly help us help you.

They cannot be permanently deleted, only hidden and unhidden -- Hide and unhide music, movies, TV shows, audiobooks, and books - Apple Support.

Per -- Delete books or audiobooks from your Mac in Books - Apple Support.

"You can’t delete items you purchased from the Book Store or Audiobook Store from iCloud, but you can hide them; click Sort By at the top right of your library, then select Hide iCloud Books."

Seamee wrote:

Apple Support - please have an update where even though purchased book, allow a customer to permanent remove from cloud so not to occupy space- thanks!!

If this message is intended for Apple, your best avenue is to provide them direct Feedback: Product Feedback - Apple; whether on Books or iCloud, or whatever seems most applicable.

In the Books App, if when in your library you tap on the three dots in the lower right of any book, you’ll see the option to delete with the trash can icon. You can delete the local copy on the device, or delete everywhere, which will also delete the downloaded copy from your iCloud book collection.

To get the book back, just download it again from the Book App’s Book Store. It will always be in your purchase history for the Book Store and cannot be removed from there.

Michael Black wrote:

In the Books App, if when in your library you tap on the three dots in the lower right of any book, you’ll see the option to delete with the trash can icon. You can delete the local copy on the device, or delete everywhere, which will also delete the downloaded copy from your iCloud book collection.

To get the book back, just download it again from the Book App’s Book Store. It will always be in your purchase history for the Book Store and cannot be removed from there.

In Reading Now, those 3-dots only show Remove and the trash icon. Clicking on it will provide 2 options -- Remove from Reading Now & Hide Book. No option to "delete the local copy on the device, or delete everywhere".

In the Library, those 3-dots only show Remove from Reading Now, Remove Download, & Hide Book.

Not on my iPad Pro. I have “remove download” and “delete everywhere “ when in the library, at least for those items I have downloaded a local copy to this iPad Pro.

Although I did not check that for every single item in my library since it consists of several hundred audio books, plus I don’t know how many eBooks and PDFs. And on this iPad Pro I have not downloaded local copies of everything that shows in my library.